


of horchata lattes

by witchy_country616



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:43:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7494240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchy_country616/pseuds/witchy_country616
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>richie and santanico + <i>always in front of me in line for the coffee shop with a ridiculous order that takes forever to make au</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	of horchata lattes

**Author's Note:**

> This is just some mindless fun drabble, not to be taken seriously, though I had a lot of fun writing it. Also, this is an edited version of the one I posted earlier on tumblr.  
> And! There is such a thing as a horchata latte (though not exactly as I described them here), you can find the recipe [here](https://1912pike.com/starbucks-via-instant-coffee-horchata/).

“One  _horchata_  latte, please. With skim milk.” Kisa muttered the order to herself as the guy in front of her said it out loud to the cashier, already rolling her eyes at it. 

Every morning, before going to teach her classes on the dance studio, she stopped to grab a cup of plain black coffee at this fancy coffeeshop two blocks away from work. She could go somewhere else, somewhere cheaper and less crowded, but they had the most deliciously, 100% organic, Colombian-grown coffee beans that took drinking coffee to a whole new level. Sadly, every single morning for the past two weeks, she got in line after this guy that asked for a  _horchata_  latte. She would forgive him the sacrilege of mixing rice, milk and coffee (who even does that?) if it didn’t take forever to make and got her late for her classes. Every. Single. Time.

“A what?” The cashier asked and Kisa perked up, her curiosity making her move to look above the guy’s shoulders (he was quite a few inches taller than her even in her heels) towards the teenager behind the counter.  _Oh, no._ New girl working. And to top it of, she seemed to have been left alone to deal with the morning rush. Quickly, she sent a text to the girls in her class saying that she would probably be late _again_. Just as a well, because the guy had started discussing with the cashier.

“What do you mean,  _a what_? A  _horchata_  latte, as in rice, water, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, coffee and milk.” He answered her, all righteous anger, and Kisa shook her head. God, please give her strength, all she wanted was a cup of black coffee to kickstart her day.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ve never heard of that. We do have some other drinks if you would like to try…”

“I don’t want another drink, I want my  _horchata_  latte and this is the only place that serves it. What are you? New or something?”

“I started yesterday…” The girl seemed ready to cry, she couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen and Kisa decided she had heard enough. Either she intervened or he would make the girl cry and none of them would ever get out of there with their coffees.

“Okay, you, Paloma, right?” She said approaching the counter and calling the girl by the name on her apron’s tag. “There should a  _horchata_  mix ready for you. No, not in the fridge, in one of the cabinets behind you. There. Get it out. Make an iced latte, can you do that?” She waited until the girl calmed herself and nodded at her. “Right. Then put the latte and the horchata together on the blender. Add the vanilla to the cup, pour the drink in and sprint some cinnamon on top. And you’ll have yourself a  _horchata_  latte.”

The guy looked at her completely taken aback with her intrusion. “How did you know the  _horchata_  was in one of the cabinets and not in the fridge?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m Mexican. My  _abuela_  used to make  _horchata_  all the time. You  _never_  put it in the fridge, it stops the process.”

“Well, thank you.” He added sincerely.  

Kisa gave him a small smile. “ I did it more for myself than anything. Figured if I waited any longer, you were gonna make her cry and none of us would get any coffee.”

He didn’t brush off her veiled accusation that he had overreacted, and instead offered her a shy guilty smile. “Probably right…I’m not the best at dealing with people.” He said honestly and she couldn’t help but look at him again. He was tall and handsome, in that all-American way. Usually he showed up dressed up in suits, but today was Saturday and he was wearing jeans and boots, topped off with a hat and sunglasses, very casual and she thought this look suited him the best. At first she had had him pinned as one of those arrogant executive types, but after hearing him admit his lack of people skills, maybe he was just a bit disconnected from the world – just like she could be, at times. 

“I understand. I’m also not on my best behavior before my morning coffee.” She answered him politely.

“By the way, can I buy you…your coffee? Black, right?” She took a longer moment than needed to answer, and he added, “Just as a thank you.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Black.”

“Hey, Paloma, right? Can you make a black coffee for the lady?” He asked the girl who was still trying to make the blender work for his latte.  _Jesus._  She nodded and he gave her a ten-dollar bill to pay for both coffees. “Keep the change. I’m sorry I was harsh on you.”

“Thank you, sir, and I am the one who’s sorry. Your coffee will be ready in a minute.”

Kisa and the  _horchata_  guy moved out of line to the side, waiting for their coffees.

“I’m Richie, by the way.” He said, offering him his hand for her to shake.

“Richie?” She repeated, testing the sound of his name in her mouth. It didn’t exactly fit him. 

“Well, Richard, but no one calls me that except for my uncle Eddie.” He added, his hand still hanging for her to shake it.

“Richard. That fits you better.” She said, finally shaking his hand. “I’m Kisa.”

Paloma finally arrived with their coffees at that moment and, after an awkward look to each other, they headed to the door together.

“Well, thank you for the coffee, Richard.” She said, offering him another small smile. “I’m going that way.” She added, pointing ahead to the general direction of the commercial center where the dance studio was located.

“Oh. I’m going that way too. Do you mind if I join you?” She gave him a long appraising look but finally nodded. “So, do you work around here?” He asked once they started walking together.

“Yeah, I teach at my own dance studio, the Santánico Pandemonium Dance and Performance Arts Studio.”

“That one in front of the bank? I pass in front of it every day.”

“Exactly. What about you? Do you work at the bank?” She asked, since he had mentioned the place and usually showed up in suits.

“You could say that.” He answered, but he was laughing, like there was a joke there she didn’t know about. “It’s more of a consultant job, not really long term.”

“Okay…”

“What type of dance do you teach?” He asked, not at all subtly changing the subject, though she decided to let it slide. If he didn't want to talk about his job, she wasn't going to pry. 

“Modern. Mostly jazz, latin rhythms like salsa and samba, and pole dancing.”

“Pole dancing?” He repeated and Kisa would never get tired of guys’ expressions when they heard that. Their eyeballs would get huge and ready to pop out of their faces. Richard was no different, though he refrained from doing a once over, looking over her body like a piece of meat, and she appreciated it. Instead, his eyes were glued to her face, as if he was trying to figure her out. “Like those strippers?”

She nodded. “It’s one of my specialties.”

“Sounds… like fun.” He managed to comment politely, and she smiled knowingly, thinking "fun" was probably not the word going through his mind now. Or maybe it was..

“You should come by and watch some time.” She says before she can stop herself, not even sure why she would want to keep seeing this guy with a weird _horchata_ passion. “A lot of guys do pole dance these days too, it's a great exercise.”

“Maybe I will come and watch. But only if you’re teaching it.” He says, and there’s moment there, they are both smiling at each other and she’s thinking that maybe she should just go ahead and give him her phone number when there’s a loud buzz from across the parking lot in front of the bank and a guy starts yelling for Richie.

“Sorry, I gotta go. It was nice to meet you.” He says and before she can’t even answer he is across the parking lot and getting into the car. 

"Nice meeting you too."

Next Monday Richard wasn’t on the line in front of her at the coffee shop and Kisa left feeling strangely disappointed. 

That same day, two men - supposedly the infamous brothers Gecko - rob the bank in front of her dance studio.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated.


End file.
